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Wells wins US Pro XCT overall title

Oct 20, 2009
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<p>Specialized Racing's Todd Wells won the overall US Pro Cross Country Tour (Pro XCT) on Saturday in Wisconsin. Fresh off his best-ever Olympic performance last weekend in London, Wells finished second at the Subaru Cup, which served as the final round of the national series.</p><p>
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"My race went pretty well. I had a good start. I was with the lead group of five guys on the first lap," said Wells, who was on his Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper hardtail 29er with a RockShox fork. "On the second lap, I put in a little surge and got a gap. I spent the next four laps out there on my own."</p><p>
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Racing less than a week after the Olympic Games, Wells was still feeling its effects. "I was hurting out there for quite a bit of that race. I have some fatigue going, and I was happy to get second and clinch the Pro XCT overall."</p><p>
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Wells was caught by Derek Zandstra just before the last lap of the six-lap race. Zandstra then attacked him to test legs. "I tried to go with him, but I couldn't bring him back. I rode in for second," said Wells.</p><p>
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Wells' teammate Howard Grotts, a first-year U23 rider, placed an impressive third place on his Specialized Epic 29er. </p><p>
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"My race went well. I worked my way up to the first group right at the beginning and then slowly moved up a few places when Todd broke away," said Grotts. "I tried to hang on when Derek and Todd went off, but I just couldn't quite hang."</p><p>
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He did hold his own throughout the rest of the race, losing little ground to Zandstra and fending off two chasers.</p><p>
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"Todd's break away split things up pretty well. When Derek bridged the gap up to Todd, that strung everyone else out behind us and the groups dissolved from there," said Grotts. </p><p>
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"I felt good. I was glad to have my Epic out there. It was a rougher course racing than it felt like pre-riding. It was a fun race, with lots of singletrack and good descents."</p><p>
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Wells also really enjoyed the course. "It was cool. It has a good mix of short climbs and somewhat fun, technical descents," he said. "This is the first year the course has been dusty and dry. The race is usually earlier in the year, when it's wetter. Some of the corners were slippery, and it was a lot rougher than I remember. The roots are becoming more exposed and more rocks are getting churned up. It's one of the best natural, old school mountain bike courses we have on the circuit."</p><p>
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To suit the conditions, Wells raced a Specialized S-Works Renegade tire on the rear (at 28 psi) and a Specialized S-Works Fast Trak tire on the front (at 27 psi). He also raced with the SRAM XX GripShift, in a 2x10 set-up.</p><p>
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Grotts chose the same tires, but with his slighter frame, he rode them at 22.5 psi (rear) and 21.5 psi (front), respectively. He also used a SRAM XX drivetrain with double ring set-up (38x24).</p><p>
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Wells was still beaming after his recent Olympic race. "I felt good after the Olympics. It was my personal best Olympics. The Specialized Racing Team did awesome with Jaroslav [Kulhavy] winning and Burry [Stander] in fifth. [USA Teammate] Sam [Schultz] and I posted the best US results so far. Obviously, I would have liked to have gotten a medal, but I gave everything I had and I have to be happy with my result."</p><p>
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After the Subaru Cup short track race on Sunday, both racers will get a short break before the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Saalfelden, Austria, in September.</p>

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